Breathtaking photos of Florida s beaches, dunes, coastal strand, and marshes by James Valentine, with scientific explanations by Bruce Means."

Images of animals are all around us. Yet the visibility offered by wildlife photography can't help but contribute to an image of the animal as fundamentally separate from the human. But how can we get closer to animals without making them aware of us or changing their relationship to their environment?

The Blind might be the answer. Developed for naturalists by the Institute of Critical Zoologists, the Blind is a camouflage cloak that works on the principle that an object vanishes from sight if light rays striking it are not reflected, but are instead forced to flow around as if it were not there. In fifty stunning color photographs, this volume""shows the cloak tested in nature reserves, grasslands, and urban environments. By taking the human out of the picture, "The Blind" offers an opportunity to explore how we see animals in photography.

A wall calendar featuring beautiful photographs of butterflies by leading photographers.

A distinctly Indigenous form of landscape representation is emerging in the creations of contemporary Indigenous artists from North America. For centuries, landscape painting in European art typically used representational strategies such as single-point perspective to lure viewers-and settlers-into the territories of the old and new worlds. In the twentieth century, abstract expressionism transformed painting to encompass something beyond the visual world, and later, minimalism and the Land Art movement broadened the genre of landscape art to include sculptural forms and site-specific installations. In Shifting Grounds, art historian Kate Morris argues that Indigenous artists are expanding, reconceptualizing, and remaking the forms of the genre still further, expressing Indigenous attitudes toward land and belonging even as they draw upon mainstream art practices. The resulting works are rarely if ever primarily visual representations, but instead evoke all five senses: from the overt sensuality of Kay WalkingStick's tactile paintings to the eerie soundscapes of Alan Michelson's videos and Postcommodity's installations to the immersive environments of Kent Monkman's dioramas, this landscape art resonates with a fully embodied and embedded subjectivity. In the works of these and many other Native artists, Shifting Grounds explores themes of presence and absence, connection and dislocation, survival and vulnerability, memory and commemoration, and power and resistance, illuminating the artists' sustained engagement not only with land and landscape but also with the history of representation itself.

This book brings new attention and focus to Yosemite's beauty, significance and future. William Neill's photographs, from sweeping vistas to intimate studies of natural phenomena, strongly convey Yosemite's exceptional qualities. The collection is powerful, inspired by eighteen years of Neill's residence in the park. Tim Palmer's essay is filled with a deep appreciation for Yosemite and the benefits it offers the human spirit, coupled with a passionate concern for its continued protection and health. The book includes 70 stunning photographs, a two-part essay, and informative photographic notes.

Distant blue hills, soaring trees, vast cloudless skies-the majesty of nature has always had the power to lift the human spirit. For some it evokes a sense of timelessness and wonder. For others it reinforces religious convictions. And for many people today, it raises concerns for the welfare of the planet.During the Renaissance, artists from Italy to Flanders andEngland to Germany depicted nature in their religious art tointensify the spiritual experience of the viewer. Devotionalmanuscripts for personal or communal use-from small-scale prayer books to massive choir books-were filled withsome of the most illusionistic nature studies of this period.Sacred Landscapes, which accompanies an exhibition at theJ. Paul Getty Museum, presents some of the mostimpressive examples of this art, gathering a wide range ofilluminated manuscripts made between 1400 and 1600, aswell as panel paintings, drawings, and decorative arts.Readers will see the influ-ence of such masters as AlbrechtDu rer, Jan van Eyck, Leonardo da Vinci, and Piero dellaFrancesca and will gain new appreciation for manuscriptilluminators like Simon Bening, Joris Hoefnagel, Vincent Raymond, and the Spitz Master. These artists were innovative in the early development of landscape painting and were revered through-out the early modern period. The authors provide thoughtful examination of works from the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries.

"Empire to Nation" offers a new consideration of the image of the sea in British visual culture during a critical period for both the rise of the visual arts in Britain and the expansion of the nation's imperial power. It argues that maritime imagery was central to cultivating a sense of nationhood in relation to rapidly expanding geographical knowledge and burgeoning imperial ambition. At the same time, the growth of the maritime empire presented new opportunities for artistic enterprise.

Taking as its starting point the year 1768, which marks the foundation of the Royal Academy and the launch of Captain Cook's first circumnavigation, it asserts that this was not just an interesting coincidence but symptomatic of the relationship between art and empire. This relationship was officially sanctioned in the establishment of the Naval Gallery at Greenwich Hospital and the installation there of J. M. W. Turner's great "Battle of Trafalgar" in 1829, the year that closes this study. Between these two poles, the book traces a changing historical discourse that informed visual representation of maritime subjects

Part of a series of exciting and luxurious Flame Tree Notebooks. Combining high-quality production with magnificent fine art, the covers are printed on foil in five colours, embossed, then foil stamped. And they're powerfully practical: a pocket at the back for receipts and scraps, two bookmarks and a solid magnetic side flap. These are perfect for personal use and make a dazzling gift. This example features Nel Whatmore's Tender Loving Care

Rudolph Zallinger's 110-foot (33.5-meter) fresca secco painting of "The Age of Reptiles" is one of the largest natural history murals in the world. Completed in 1947, it is an overview of prehistoric life told through the principal features and concepts of The Age of Reptiles. The mural has defined our view of the prehistoric world, and continues to teach, inform and spark the imagination of thousands of visitors that walk through the Yale Peabody Museum's Great Hall each year, as well as to admirers around the world over through countless reproductions in publications and textbooks.

This second edition of the Peabody's guide to Zallinger's masterwork is a compilation of earlier material and new information--including Vincent Scully's classic essay on the mural's place in the history of art--contributed by the staff and scientists of the Yale Peabody Museum. Filled with full color illustrations throughout, the concealed spiral paperback includes updated descriptions and identifying illustrations of the animals and plants depicted in the mural keyed to a 12 page foldout full-color poster that is bound into the book.

A must-have for Alexander von Humboldt fans and botanic enthusiasts, this gorgeous collection of frameable posters of his studies is filled with natural wonders and meticulous detail. More than two centuries after Alexander von Humboldt established himself as a scientific trailblazer, the work of this pioneering explorer and naturalist is being rediscovered. Humboldt's travels in the Americas and Cuba were hailed by many as the "scientific discovery of America." These intricate botanical masterpieces reveal his revolutionary findings as he traveled through jungles, across rivers, and over mountainous terrain. Technically precise, these delicately tinted prints are equally appealing to anyone who appreciates fine art and botanical illustration. Perfect for close study as well as decoration, this treasury of botanical delight will help brighten any room and inspire anyone drawn to the beauty of the natural world.

For millennia corals were a marine enigma confounding classification and occupying a space between the animal and vegetable kingdoms. Ultimately their animal and symbiotic natures were recognized, and they remain the focus of intense fascination and research. The danger to seafarers posed by unseen underwater coral reefs led to their association with death and interment that has figured in literature, poetry, music and film. The bright redness of precious Mediterranean coral was associated with blood, including coral's gory origin in European and Indian mythology, and its place in religion. Corals have long been prized as jewellery and ornament, and were a feature of many Kunstkammer collections during the Renaissance. Seen as `rainforests of the sea', coral reefs have become greenly emblematic of fragile marine biodiversity, warning of human-driven global climate change. This book uniquely treats the many manifestations of corals in biology and geology; how diverse corals came to figure in art, expeditionary accounts, medicine, folklore, geopolitics, and international trade; and corals as builders of islands and protectors of coastlines, and as building materials themselves. Exceptionally illustrated with a wide range of natural history images, underwater photographs and fine art, this book provides a unique resource for all interested in ocean environments and the cultures that have flourished there.

Tremendous mountain-shaping forces of geologic uplifting, glaciation, and volcanic activity have joined powers in the Eastern Sierra Nevada to build and carve a range unparalleled in its picturesque majesty. These mountains occupy some of the largest roadless areas in the lower forty-eight states and contain some of the grandest scenery in the West. John Muir referred to the Sierra Nevada as, above all other mountains, the "Range of Light."

Photographer Dennis Flaherty's collection of color images depicting Mt. Whitney, the Owens Valley, Mammoth Lakes, Mono Lake, and the mountains, canyons, and vistas in between is an ideal gift for hikers, climbers, and everyone who is drawn to the landscape east of the Sierra Nevada.

This dazzling collection showcases the very best of the British Wildlife Photography Awards, presenting over 150 of the winning, commended and shortlisted images from the 2017 competition. Featuring a range of photography from world-leading professionals as well as inspired amateurs, it is a book that captures the magnificent diversity of the British Isles. British Wildiife Photography Awards is divided into the competition's fifteen categories, from Animal Portraits through to the Young People's Awards. Every photograph is beautifully reproduced in a large format, with detailed technical information alongside the photographer's personal account, to appeal to both photographers and natural historians.

In a heartfelt and original tribute to man s best friend, the photographic master Elliott Erwitt captures all the diversity of the canine kingdom. We witness Fido s many moods from playful, perky scamp to quiet and constant companion. Ranging from daring little imps to lumbering and gentle beasts, Erwitt s images unveil the quirkiness that makes these creatures so beloved while combining an unerring sense of composition with the magic of the moment."

The Millennium Seed Bank Project is the largest conservation project ever conceived. It will appeal to scientists, artists and photographers alike. Art and science collaborate on a fascinating story with extraordinary images in a highly-acclaimed book. Seeds, the most complex organs produced by plants, ensure the biodiversity of our planet. They vary from the impressive Seychelles nut that weighs twenty kilos to the dust-like seeds of the orchids. The evolution of their highly sophisticated structures from prehistoric times to today makes fascinating reading as do the wiles plants use to attract and deceive their chosen pollinators. The extraordinary images that accompany this story provide an unprecedented presentation of the magnificent diversity of seeds in all their exquisite beauty and sophistication. Fruits are the keepers of the precious seeds that ensure our future; some are edible, others inedible and many, quite simply, incredible.

Contemplate the Immensity

A survey of panorama paintings

Enigmatic and ambiguous in its role as both setting and subject, the landscape has been one of the most important genres in painting for centuries. This dedicated survey spans from the late Middle Ages to modern times to bring the evolution of the landscape genre to life through its most critical works, executed by groundbreaking artists as diverse as Titian and Warhol.

As a form, landscapes represent the topography of the natural world as much as our own; reflecting the diversity of earth's vistas, but also keen indications of developments in representational aesthetics, religious and political history, notions of the sublime and the romantic, as well as the arrival of modernity and the vast changes wrought on the environment by industrialization and urbanization.

Opening this insightful volume is an introductory essay offering a meticulous overview of the genre and its most crucial developments. Luscious double page spreads on each of the 34 featured artworks include a crisp painting reproduction and an extensive art historical analysis on the masters of the form - including such greats as Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Brueghel, El Greco, John Constable, Claude Monet, and David Hockney.

Designing a captivating creature simply for it to exist against a white background and going no further is a purely academic exercise. Designing a creature that can survive in a world, interact with its own and other species, and go on to make an impact, is designing with intent the end goal of creature design and what you'll witness in this latest book from industry veteran Terryl Whitlach. With decades of experience in the entertainment industry, developing creatures for Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace and Beowulf, among other projects, she offers valuable advice on how to develop otherworldly beings that are not just stunning in appearance, but also possess qualities that will endear viewers to them, or repulse, if that's the intent. For Whitlatch, there's no limit to what can be imagined with an open mind, though the journey may not always be an easy one. It's what she calls "chasing the unicorn." We will surely enjoy joining her on her journey, filled with creatures that are so vivid, whimsical, and elaborate that we will wish or wonder if they are real."

A beautifully illustrated look at the vogue for night landscapes amid the social, political, and technological changes of modern America The turn of the 20th century witnessed a surge in the creation and popularity of nocturnes and night landscapes in American art. In this original and thought-provoking book, Helene Valance investigates why artists and viewers of the era were so captivated by the night. Nocturne examines works by artists such as James McNeill Whistler, Childe Hassam, Winslow Homer, Frederic Remington, Edward Steichen, and Henry Ossawa Tanner through the lens of the scientific developments and social issues that dominated the period. Valance argues that the success of the genre is connected to the resonance between the night and the many forces that affected the era, including technological advances that expanded the realm of the visible, such as electric lighting and photography; Jim Crow-era race relations; America's closing frontier and imperialism abroad; and growing anxiety about identity and social values amid rapid urbanization. This absorbing study features 150 illustrations encompassing paintings, photographs, prints, scientific illustration, advertising, and popular media to explore the predilection for night imagery as a sign of the times.

This set of erasers featuring adorable artwork by beloved stationer Sukie puts the fun in function. The five different shaped erasers in the set are made to look like animals dressed in business gear, and come cleverly packaged in a box designed to look like a city bus - complete with windows revealing the cuteness within. Make no mistake, these friendly little erasers are ready to get to work!

From celebrated gardens in private villas to the paintings and sculptures that adorned palace interiors, Venetians in the sixteenth century conceived of their marine city as dotted with actual and imaginary green spaces. This volume examines how and why this pastoral vision of Venice developed. Drawing on a variety of primary sources ranging from visual art to literary texts, performances, and urban plans, Jodi Cranston shows how Venetians lived the pastoral in urban Venice. She describes how they created green spaces and enacted pastoral situations through poetic conversations and theatrical performances in lagoon gardens; discusses the island utopias found, invented, and mapped in distant seas; and explores the visual art that facilitated the experience of inhabiting verdant landscapes. Though the greening of Venice was relatively short lived, Cranston shows how the phenomenon had a lasting impact on how other cities, including Paris and London, developed their self-images and how later writers and artists understood and adapted the pastoral mode. Incorporating approaches from eco-criticism and anthropology, Green Worlds of Renaissance Venice greatly informs our understanding of the origins and development of the pastoral in art history and literature as well as the culture of sixteenth-century Venice. It will appeal to scholars and enthusiasts of sixteenth-century history and culture, the history of urban landscapes, and Italian art.